The patients affected that will have to change doctors are the members who bought their coverage from AARP. This doesn’t appear to be as large as the numbers of doctors cut in other states, but still if it’s you, it has an impact. This appears to give a little more notice this time and it appears there’s more of an effort made here to allow patients to transfer to a new doctor. United is also in the Urgent care business now so will this area be seeing some of those clinics built and opened?

You also see some things out of left field from United at times as here’s an example with overseas policy efforts for US employees who work for companies owned by India firms. It does get complex with a number of different types of offerings.

In addition with the complexities of insurers you can also see items like this to where United went out and bid and won a contract, but due to narrow networks, they had no providers to see patients in the contract they won and lost it of course. By contrast you also see the company kicking out a check in New York City to pay $175,000 to fix a hammer toe for the wife of a banker, so do they have better out of network coverage there? In California we have lawsuits over refusal to pay for lap band surgeries.

When the numbers are crunched, which United relies on heavily as 1/3 of their revenue comes from Health IT businesses, I’m guessing the queries and algorithms roll to determine where the next cuts will come in. In Phoenix, Arizona a local television station seems to be working as an advocate to handle claim disputes.

Data mining and gamification efforts with the company are still alive and well as here’s one more purchase the company made as United sells more data than any other insurer out there as well, normally via one of their many subsidiary companies. Also be aware of all the algorithms that run out and analyze your voice when you call most insurers today so when you hear this call may be recorded, it’s out there determining and creating a data file on your “current state of mind”. When you know this, it’s certainly on deterrent from wanting to deal with an insurance call center, that’s for sure as the data files built and availability to sell keep rolling up with such as well.

Also in the news the company will set you up for text messages, I know that’s not medical care but it cost next to nothing to set up a few algorithms to send you an army of text messages if you want them. I have to some how laugh at the marketing of this messaging as its there to “enhance your health literacy”..whoopee, no its there to remind you to make your appointment.

So it comes down to “business algorithms say” I would think as that’s what drives all of this as shareholders want their money so stay tuned for the next “narrow network” update I guess. BD

UnitedHealthcare is cutting doctors from its Medicare Advantage networks in the Richmond, Roanoke and Tidewater service areas, meaning some consumers will have to find new doctors in the middle of a benefit year.

Doctors who are being dropped have been notified, and patients who see those doctors are getting letters telling them about the change that becomes effective Aug. 1, a UnitedHealthcare spokesman said.

In the Richmond area, UnitedHealthcare offers a Medicare Advantage plan called AARP MedicareComplete.

“This is all part of our effort to build a more focused network around collaboration,” said Steven King, a UnitedHealthcare regional vice president overseeing the company’s Medicare and retirement businesses in Virginia.

UnitedHealthcare has about 37,000 Medicare Advantage enrollees in Virginia. Not all are affected.

Dark Arts of Mathemical Deception

Professor Charlie Siefe of NYU, a mathematician debunks clinical trials, and few other items to where data is spun and fools you, every day example, hear about the perfect butt algorithm and more. These are probably some things you have never thought about but again after listening to what he has to say, it’s time to think about being skeptical. Here’s a radio show that also talks about the same topics.

This video digs in a bit further with how fictitious business models are used by banks and companies do this too. The models are so complex that CEOs don’t even understand them. “Quants, The Alchemists of Wall Street will take you through how “math models” work at banks and financial institutions in a way that even the layman can understand. More videos like over at theAlgo Duping/Killer Algorithm Page. Bank of America will also tell you“IT’ is a business” how they make money.

Weapons of Math Destruction

This is a lecture where Kathy O’Neill, a former Quant who worked for a Hedge Fund (Weapons of Math Destruction) on Wall Street will tell you what is done with your retirement money and more. The banks and companies use technology to take advantage because they can. “Of course we are going to take advantage because our tools are our brains…if they could figure out a way to take advantage of pension funds they would, a good interview with explaining smart money and dumb money.

Algorithms Shape The World

This is a very good presentation done a TED Conference and really was the one that got everyone started thinking about algorithms and today it’s talked about a lot. As he says “if you’re an algorithm, life is looking pretty good, but can’t say the same for humans”. What is a black box? Nobody has any control over the flash crash. We have moved forward a bit but still we are writing the unreadable and lost the sense of some of what is happening. Nice plug for Nanex here with research.